However this milestone is enjoyed by many, and about 100,000 such scores are celebrated in a new book, Tons of Runs.

Publisher and author Paul Daley has started a series of launches in different centres, with nine already booked and the number is expected to grow during the cricket season.

The first function was held the previous Saturday in a marquee at Harrow (Vic.), the birthplace of Johnny Mullagh, star of the Australian Aboriginal team that toured England in 1868.

That had been addressed by Henry Gunstone of Ararat who with 129 centuries to his credit, has earned the tag of The Bradman of the Bush.

Last Friday it was Nowra’s turn and showing a continuing interest in the sport at a grassroots level, Daley inspected the showground wicket with curator David Irvine before the function began in the nearby pavilion.

Murray Peters acted as master of ceremonies, and Shoalhaven District Cricket Association president David Sloane welcomed visitors and locals to what was a representative gathering.

Alan Clark explained his role in providing about 1800 Shoalhaven names for the book, and presented Mr Daley with a copy of the Shoalhaven cricket history prepared for the association centenary in 1993.

Given centre stage was the author who is obviously delighted that the book of almost 800 pages had been completed after four years’ work, when many people doubted it could be done.

He divided the process into seven phases, the most difficult being the task of getting word out to clubs and associations around Australia.

Some were more keen to become involved than others, while for those without anyone compiling statistics and history, it was a daunting task.

Interestingly, Mr Daley speculated on how the figure of 100 had been decided on as the major milestone for batsmen; with uncovered wickets in England contributing to it being so low.

Asked about how Toby Bice’s record of 52 hundreds in the Shoalhaven compared, he suggested he would be in the top 30, but his ratio of converting seven of them into double-centuries would see him higher.

He also commented on the number of Shoalhaven families that featured in the list, headed by the Bices.

One of those at the function was Ian Bice, a fifth generation Shoalhaven cricketer, and when he scored a century with Ex-Servicemen in 1985-86, he was following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

Mr Daley said that he is already under pressure from bowlers to produce a book detailing those who had taken hat-tricks, five wickets in an innings or 10 in a match.

And then there are the wicketkeepers . . .